Askls5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Askls5 - Essay Example It is believed that self-leadership is required before engaging in team leadership (Manz and Sims 1991). What are some of the best practices that a team facilitator can use in order act as a role model to his or her team? When one has competent team members, it is apparent that they at one time have contributions to make in the effort to facilitate problem solving. In this regard, what are some of the models deemed appropriate to create an atmosphere in which a team leader can use in order to facilitate problem solving? In every group undertaking a certain project in an organization, there are various challenges it can face. What are some of the potential areas that a team leader can focus on in order to overcome such challenges? In an attempt to go beyond self-managing work team, a leader is supposed to use some empowerment dimensions. What are recommended dimensions that a team leader can use in order to empower his or her team? In any given organization, it is expected that the team leader use the appropriate communication styles in order to ensure top performance by his or her team members. What are the recommended communication skills and techniques that a team leader must have? However, the communication skill applies to all members of a team. A part from the team leader’s skills and techniques, in what ways can communication skills and techniques help the other team members’ carryout their duties

Tanglewood Case- Will fax all documentation Case Study

Tanglewood - Will fax all documentation - Case Study Example The case study will focus on thirteen various decisions for strategic staffing and nine out of the thirteen decisions will be on staffing levels while the remaining four will be on quality of staffing. Tangle wood business strategy/goals Tangle wood is a form of retail type of business that operates in clothing, electronics, appliances, and home decor items. The prices of the items in the business are relatively low and this is because of the customer target. The business targets both upper and middle income customers and it applies outdoor strategy so as to appeal to many clients. Some of the goals of the business are to be the best store for the clients that are capable of offering quality, durability as well as value for client’s money and provisions of maximum value not only to the clients but also the stakeholders and the various employees in the organization. The achievement of the above goals and objectives rely on the application of responsible financial management cor e values as well as precise and honest communications. The applications of the core values will go in accordance with the customer service and performance values. Strategic staffing decisions Acquire or develop talent Tangle wood should concentrate on acquiring and developing talents externally. The acquisitions of the workers will be cheap for Tangle wood case since these personnel would not be need of further training since most of them shall have been trained (Elmuti, 1993). Hire yourself or outsource Outsourcing would be very expensive for the business since the various outside organizations that would assist in outsourcing would also require some forms of payment. Tangle wood should therefore, hire the employees for its self in order to cut on the hiring expenses. External or internal hiring Hiring should be done externally since the external staffs already have the required training and therefore, Tangle wood will not be required to train the employees further. This helps in r educing hiring cost as well as training costs for the case of internal hiring. Core or flexible workforce Tangle wood should adopt flexible workforce as this would help it to maximize on productivity of the workers. Core workforce would limit the productivity of the workers as most will not produce fully. Hire or retain Tangle wood should retain workforce since retaining the workers would reduce the unnecessary spending on hiring new employees. Workers also tend to gain experience while on the line of duty and therefore, the existing workers are better to understand the business compared to new employees. National or global Tangle wood should consider going global since this would increase their customers’ base as well as their rates for sales and profits. Operating globally would increase their profits margins and they would be able to enjoy economies of large scale. Attract or relocate Tangle wood should strive to attract customers since relocation means they would have to look for new clients. The time spent looking for new clients’ means a loss in profits for that given period. Overstaff or under staff Overstaffing and under staffing both have consequences. However, the consequences of under staffing seem to outweigh the

Zizeks Concept Of Two Revolutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Zizeks Concept Of Two Revolutions - Essay Example Zizek’s work has been criticised for inconsistency and Parker argues that â€Å"there is no Zizekian system of philosophy because Zizek, with all his inconsistencies, is trying to make us think much harder about what we are willing to believe and accept from a single writer† (Parker, 2004, p.120). Indeed, to this end Zizek argues himself that we should constantly challenge our ideologies and philosophies. This is particularly evident with Zizek’s extrapolations pertaining to the concept of the two revolutions as highlighted by his discussion in â€Å"Revolution at the Gates, A Selection of Writings from February to October 1917† (Edited by Zizek, 2002). To this end, it is submitted at the outset that at the heart of Zizek’s argument for the necessity of two revolutions is the idea that the first revolution challenges the pre-existing form and the second revolution ensures that the form itself is revolutionised to attain the true purpose of the intended objectives of the â€Å"revolution† in what Zizek terms the â€Å"utopia†. Directly correlated to Zizek’s perception of the two revolutions is the use of Lenin as a symbol to highlight the flaws of traditional social theory highlighting historical circumstance and context as the significant causal triggers for revolution.

Perceptual Maps Essay Example for Free

Perceptual Maps Essay Perceptual Mapping, as defined by Miguel Mauricio Isoni and Cid Goncalves Filho (The Strategic Use of Perceptual Maps in Corporate Reputation Analysis: an Empirical Survey), is a â€Å"strategic management tool that offers a unique ability to show the complex relationship between marketplace competitors and the criteria used by buyers when making purchase decisions and recommendations. † Usually, perceptual maps is plotted through a two dimensional plane, thus it is capable mainly of comparing four factors affecting a certain market product. To come up with a perceptual map, product analyst would perform its designed three part methodology. A. The Three Phases of Perceptual Maps as Used in the Simulation I. The Exploratory Phase In this first stage, we would get to know the origin of the need for the making of the perceptual plan (Isoni Filho). The simulation had started with the laying out of the situation of Thor motorcycles decrease in sales with their product CruiserThor, a 1500cc power cruiser priced at $25,800. Thor believed that the decrease in sales they analyzed in May 1, 201 was brought by the growing older of its target costumers (bracket 35 – 50 yrs old) that made them no longer interested with the lifestyle CruiserThor symbolizes. The age bracket of 21 – 35 years could not also be a replacement since they prefer more buying low-cost motorcycles for practicality reasons concerning with their young age’s small disposable income. As a recommendable solution, we need a new marketing plan. But in order to come up with a plan, we need to know the position of the CruiserThor in the market through a perceptual map. Since we had opted with making a perceptual map, we then need to choose four fundamental parameters CruiserThor gives the most concern. And we decided that they were the Lifestyle Image, Service Offerings, Price and Quality Engineering. We would also have a comparison of CruiserThor with its other competitor product and then conduct a market research to obtain CruiserThor’s representational ratings. II. The Descriptive Phase At this point, we would then need to make a survey with structured questionnaire and with representative sample that will be analyzed by Perceptual Mapping software (Isoni Filho). This could be in the form of four questions asking for a ranking from 1 – 10 that corresponds to the existing client’s perception to the selected four parameters. Does the CruiserThor made a great impact with your lifestyle? Does it possess the uniqueness you could not see with its competitor brands? 2. Does the engineering design compensate with its projected lifestyle image? 3. Does the CruiserThor priced right? 4. Does its included technical support and additional services suffice its total package? As these questions are filled up by the CruiserThor’s customers, dealers and distributors, we could then extract from it the public’s representational perception. The values that we had assigned are 9. 2 for the lifestyle image. 1 for the service offerings, 2. 95 for the service offerings and 7. 1 for the quality engineering. These figures had also been compared with the figures generated from two of CruiserThor’s competitors, Anzai and Espritique. These figures tell the current position of the product which would then be subject to review and/or revisions. III. The Presentation Phase For this last phase, we would present the maps to the managers (Isoni Filho), who would then give generalized interpretation with the marketing of the product with respect to its four factors evaluated. As the values had been analyzed, two possible solutions were suggested, to enhance the current positioning strategy or to totally change it. We may also opt to launch a new motorcycle that targets younger costumers. If ever you chose the last, you should then decide how it would be packaged with its features as opposed to the constraint of cheaper pricing. As a final decision, we would then stick with launching a new product, called RRoth that would accommodate a younger age bracket. This option would undergo several stages so as to determine its proper marketing mix to be used. These were deliberations on how would it be priced, how would it be handed down to its end-users, and how would it be promoted. The company’s team of analyst suggested with a $13M budgeted RRoth motorcycles that would be priced $13T $15T. They would use the help of their identified dealers and distributors to act as its middleman. They would also set-up exclusive showrooms. Promotions that would be done were to offer insurance and protection plans, to offer free test rides, to hire celebrities for endorsements, and to provide giveaway merchandise. Additional services were dealers training, customization options and financial services. Total cost of differentiation decisions was then accounted to be $11. 149T. B. Summary of the Different Marketing Components Used I. Relationship between differentiation and positioning of products and services Differentiation, as its word implies, is the offering of various products that tends to target distinct costumers from each other. This would help with covering all the possible customers’ individual needs basing on bracketing schemes just like age. In relation to this, positioning strategies for these various products need to be considered so as to not make them compete with each other (Positioning Defined). As an example, CruiserThor was designed to target possible costumers coming from the age of 35–50 yrs. old. To address the need to cover the market with younger age who may wish to avail a lifestyle imaged motorcycle but at a lower cost, Thor motorcycles decided to launch RRoth and it was positioned to attract the age bracket of 21–35 yrs. old who were less likely to had disposable incomes. II. The Impact of Product Life Cycle Production analysis through time had come up with a thinking that products have a life cycle (Product life cycle management, Wikipedia). Products start with the market introduction stage by creating a demand through different ways of promotion and information dissemination about its importance of use. The product may either benefit or suffer the existence of competition depending on the reaction of its target costumers. Products would then enter into the growth stage wherein it should develop a sense of profitability to its producers and sellers. Competition would usually increase as others would see its success in gaining a market share. As the products gain years being in the market, it would enter the maturity stage wherein the cost of production was minimized since publicity is less likely to be required. Final stage would be whether the product be stable or in a state of decline depending on the continuity of interest of its target costumers. References M. Isoni C. Filho. The Strategic Use of Perceptual Maps in Corporate Reputation Analysis: An Empirical Survey. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from www. isbee. org/index. php? option=com_docmantask=doc_downloadgid=33 Perceptual Mapping. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www. populus. com/files/Perceptual%20Mapping_f_1. pdf Perceptual Mapping. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www. iqlogo. com/library/perceptual-mapping. htm Product life cycle management. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Product_life_cycle_management Positioning Defined. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www. 1000ventures. com/business_guide/crosscuttings/positioning_main. html

Quantitative Easing After the Financial Crisis

Quantitative Easing After the Financial Crisis Jose Nunez The global financial crisis started in August 2007 and lasted to 2009, which was the collapse of the subprime mortgage market (lenders with higher interest rates demand, and borrowers that can repay their loans) that led to a huge amount of losses to financial institutions in that time. The crisis led to one of the worst markets in the past 50 years. The impact it had on the economy was severe, it lead to a downward growth for U.S. companies, and an increase of uncertainty for the U.S. economy. The causes of the 2007- 2009 financial crisis were: financial innovation in mortgage markets, agency problems in the mortgage markets, and the role of asymmetric information in the credit rating process. There weren’t as many innovations back then, so before the year 2000 only credit worthy borrowers could get mortgages unlike others that didn’t have good credit. After advances in technology and new statistical techniques, that led to better evaluations on credit risk for a new risky loan to be made. FICO was developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation, which just predicted the outcome of how likely it was for a borrower to default on their loans and not pay the loan back. By lowering the cost of transactions, newer technology was able to bundle smaller loans that were similar to mortgages into debt securities. With these factors the banks were able to give out subprime mortgages to borrowers with less than good credit scores. Also, there were agency problems in the market, the brokers who made the loans usually did not make an effort to see whether the people taking the loans could actually pay the loans back, in other words they just gave out the loans to almost complete strangers that they knew very little about and they did not have the same interest as the investors had; once the broker earned his or her commission from the loan he or she did not care about the whether the borrowers paid or did not pay the loan off. Credit rating agencies were also a factor because of their asymmetric information; they were telling clients how to structure financial instruments at the time they rated the products so different information was being passed from firms to the borrowers. The effects it had on the U.S. economy were; housing prices went down, many subprime borrowers were finding that their mortgages were going underwater meaning that the house value was falling below the amount of the mortgage. Many homeowners just walked away from their homes giving the keys back to the lenders because the prices were going down. The default on mortgages rose tremendously, which led to many foreclosures. Value of mortgages backed securities and CDOs went down as well, and left the value of those assets to banks and financial institutions. Many of the well-known firms from had to be sold off to other larger companies for less than what they once worth and others had to file for bankruptcy. With all the things that happen in 2007-2009 in the economy, the crisis did not lead to a depression because of the actions of the Federal Reserve and government bailouts of the financial institutions but many call it a â€Å"great recession† instead. The economic recovery has been slow because people are now scared to invest their money in the markets and do not what to take on other risks, jobs are going overseas, inflation is rising, and economies of other countries are going down as well. Michael Farr said in an article from the Huffington â€Å"Corporate managers are just doing what works. Following the financial crisis, investors are not in the mood to take big risks. They would rather have the certainty that comes with higher dividend payments and increased stock buybacks†. When the economy is about to slip into a recession or depression the government uses a tactic called quantitative easing. Quantitative easing is when the central bank makes purchases from the market to bring down the interest rates so more people can have money in their pockets to spend and invest in the market. Federal Reserve gives the financial institutions money so they can lend out to the consumers and increase liquidity. Some of the down sides of quantitative easing are that it can cause inflation to increase due to being a certain amount of goods that are being sold when the money supply of the consumers has increased, and another is that instead of the banks lending out the money that was meant to be loaned out to people or companies was being kept by the banks instead. This strategy of the government in our last financial crisis was not really affective because the banks kept the money for reserve instead of lending it out the people and companies to increase liquidity and s pending. Many articles have been saying that the government has ended QE but according to an article by Terry Burnham  on pbs.org argues, By all accounts, the  Federal Reserve ended its bond buying program, known as quantitative easing, at its policy meeting at the end of last month. Over six years, the central bank bought $4.5 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities and Treasury bonds. But since the beginning of this year, the Fed has been gradually drawing down its purchases by $10 billion a month to now, zero. It’s not that simple, though, says economist  Terry Burnham. The Fed is continuing what he calls â€Å"Stealth QE,† or the purchase ofmorebonds with the interest the Fed earns on the bonds it has already purchased. In order to stop that, he writes, the Fed would need to shrink its balance sheet by the amount of interest that it earns. Deleverage is when banks start to lose capital so they fall back on loaning money to others. They try to reduce the debt they have by selling their assets. Losses on their loans they gave out begin to drop in value which drops the net worth of the banks and financial institutions. Tejvan Pettinger said â€Å"To reduce debts people sell off assets to gain liquidity. Selling assets causes fall in the price of shares and house prices. Falling house prices cause lower consumer spending, negative equity and more losses for banks.† With less capital the banks and financial institutions have, the more risky they look towards others causing lender-savers to take out their funds. The decrease in funds will mean fewer loans to produce investments. Deleverage hurts the economy for those reasons. Globalization is when different countries trade with each other things such as products, ideas, aspects of their cultures, and other subject matters. Globalization has been increasing and has been getting easier due to the fact of newer and more advanced technology that has been invented till today to help us communicate with each other and transport product from one place to another. With globalization the cost of goods that we are buying that are coming from different parts of the world are low, compared to if we were to make them here because, it cost less for others to make it in their own country. Also the variety of goods within a country will increase because maybe we can’t produce certain goods here like other countries are able too. With globalization we have free trade, promoting jobs, keeping cost of goods low in the economy, and it’s making business more competitive thus stimulating the economy. Globalization also has a negative impact on the economy, that i s jobs are being moved over seas and outsourcing jobs to other places in the worked. The rich will continue to get richer and people looking for jobs will have to take on new jobs for less money because companies are moving out of the country. Both inflation and deflation can have a negative impact in the economy if inflation and deflation rises are severe. Inflation means the prices of goods and services are going up, lowering the purchasing power of the people and lowering the value of the dollar. A certain amount of inflation can also mean that we have a healthy economy because prices of goods and services will continue to go up. Deflation is the opposite of inflation, so instead of the rising prices of goods and services the prices are falling. When deflation is happening people tend to save more money and spend less because the value of the dollar is increasing. By not spending more the demand for goods and services drops and unemployment increases because not many people want to buy things. Deflation can be caused by a decrease in spending by the government, and people. There are also pages that say QE can also lead to deflation. The Wall Street Journal said â€Å"Nearly a decade after Japan’s central bank fi rst experimented with the policy, the country remains mired in deflation, a general decline in wages and prices that has crippled its economy.† Moderate levels of both inflation and deflation are normal have little effect on the economy. Works Cited Burnham, Terry. â€Å"So you thought quantitative easing was over? Think again† PBS News Hour. 24 November 2014. Farr, Michael. â€Å"What Is Causing the Drag?† The Huffington Post, 21 November 2014. Mishkin, S. Frederic. â€Å"The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets Tenth Edition.† Colombia College. Pearson, 2013. Print. Pettinger, Tejvan. â€Å"Paradox of Deleveraging.† Economics Help, 6 May 2009. WashingtonsBlog. â€Å"Why QE May Lead to DEFLATION In the Long Run.† Washington’s Blog. 18 November 2014.

Drivers of Customer Loyalty and Firm Profitability Research

Drivers of Customer Loyalty and Firm Profitability Research Financial institutions perform a vital role in facilitating the aggregation and allocation of capital with the help of conveying individual savings in to loans to businesses, government and individuals. The role of banking division in the concentration and distribution of capital in Ghana can not be disputed. The recent credit crunch has left a deep impact over the performance of various banks all over the world. Thus, in order to survive in the long run, the institutions need to adopt competitive strategies. One and the most important of such strategies in the banking sector constitute customer loyalty to business which makes the banking businesses competent. In this paper, we will analyze the determinants of customer loyalty and their impact on the share market and firm profitability with the help of studying the customer relationship management (CRM) and contact management of Barclays Bank in Ghana. In the late seventies and early eighties, the state owned banks in Ghana dominated the formal banking system of the country as they had monopoly with respect to their spread and operations (Hinson and Hammond, 2006). However, the banking environment has now been evolved. According to Hinson and Hammond (2006; p.45), universal banking law has permitted all categories of banking to be performed under a single body for corporate banking which has greatly restructured the scopes of competency in various banking products in Ghana. Thus, the banking sector in Ghana has been brought in to the competitive arena which is based on the customers and products due to the reforms and deregulations. This infers that the management of the banks in Ghana should employ the strategies that provide customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer retention and thereby, increase firm profitability and market shares. 1.1 Service Quality Concept The European school of thought, vastly expressed by the work of Gronroos (1984), explains that the customers recognize service quality from two aspects which are: (1) the technical aspect of service and (2) the functional aspect of the service. Technical quality is determined by knowing if the customers expectations from the service are fulfilled or not. The functional quality is recognized through the customers perception about the service production and its delivery. According to Richard and Allaway (1993), both of these distinctions are correct and needed to define customers service quality analysis and loyalty behaviour. However, this concept does not consider the physical environment of the service. Thus, the American school of thought led by the work of Parasuraman et al., (1985, 1988) has been adopted in various studies which states that service quality is basically the difference between perception and expectation of the delivery of service. According to this model, service q uality has five dimensions on which customers judgement about perceived service quality is based. These dimensions are: Reliability: Performance assurance, accuracy and dependability of the service. Responsiveness: Will to help and provide prompt service to the customers. Assurance: Knowledge, courtesy and ability of the employees that ensures trust and confidence. Empathy: Care and special attention given to the customers. Tangibles: Outlook of the personnel, equipments and other physical facilities. These five dimensions will be measured through a scale called SERVQUAL comprising of 22 items. Service quality is operationalized according to the gap between perception and expectation (P-E). Thus, the SERVQUAL determines the gaps in the service delivery of a firm. SERVPERF is another service quality measure that has been developed by Cronin and Taylor (1992) considering that SERVQUAL was inadequate. According to them, performance and not perception minus expectation determines service quality by proving that expectations have almost no impact on the customers evaluation about service quality. Both of the SERVQUAL and SERVPERF conceptualizations have been incorporated in our research model for this study. Although, our research model includes P E, we measure service quality on the basis of perception only since expectation is insignificant (Cronin and Taylor 1992; Brady et al., 2002). However, the basics of Parasuraman et als., (1988) dimensions of service quality have been retaine d in our model. Moreover, the 22 items of these dimensions in our study are slightly modified according to relevancy. 7 point likert scale will be used to measure P. 1.2 Customer Loyalty Concept In our study, we have incorporated both attitudinal and behavioural concepts of customer loyalty. The following cues will be used to measure customer loyalty in the banking sector of Ghana. Word of Mouth: Recommendations made by the customers to their friends and family for using the services of the bank. Repeat Purchase: Repetition or consistency in making purchases by the customers for the banks products and services. Satisfaction: The level of pleasure or happiness of the customers with their banks services and products. 2. SERVICE QUALITY MODEL The Disconfirmation Paradigm (Parasuraman et al., 1985) allows service quality model to measure disparity between consumers perceptions and their expectations for the quality of service. Figure 1 given below represents the service quality model for the banking sector. This model illustrates that there are five gaps in delivering the quality service to the customers. These gaps are described below. Gap 1: This gap can be referred as Understanding as it depicts the difference between expectations of the customer and the management perceptions of the customers expectations. Gap2: This gap can be referred as Service Standards since it depicts the disparity between management perceptions of customer expectations and specifications of service quality. Gap 3: This gap can be referred as Service Performance as it illustrates the disparity between the service quality specifications and the actual service delivered to the customer. Gap 4: This gap can be referred as Communications since it shows the disparity between service delivery and external communication with the customer about the service. Gap 5: This gap can be referred as Service Quality as it depicts the disparity between customer expectation for the quality of the service and the customers perception about the performance of the firm. Gaps 1 till 4 impact the service delivery leading to Gap 5. Thus, these four gaps have a very strong influence over the gap 5. This study will focus on the potential discrepancies found in all the gaps. The managerial implications associated with these gaps must be assessed in order to formulate proper business strategies. These resultant strategies will then be properly implemented for closing the identified gaps found in the banking sector in Ghana and thereby, to improve service quality and profitability of concerned Bank. Word of Mouth Communication Personal Needs Past Experience Expected Service Perceived Service Gap 5 Service Delivery External Communications with Customers Gap 4 Translation of Perceptions in to Service Quality Specifications Management Perceptions of Costumer Expectations Gap 2 Gap 3 Gap 1 3. PROBLEM STATEMENT The gaps 1 to 4 impact the service delivery and are concerned with the management and service providers of the bank. Thus, the question arises, what variables or factors are responsible for creating these gaps or what is the lacking of the management that refrain them from delivering the quality service to the customers? As for Gap 5, the question arises which business strategies should be adopted to reduce the gaps and thereby, improve service quality and performance of the bank. 4. HYPOTHETICAL MODEL This paper is aimed towards finding loyalty drivers according to the viewpoint of the customers of the Ghanaian retail banking. This chapter of the paper will present a hypothetical model that will be used to determine the relationship among loyalty, loyalty drivers, banks profitability and market share. Figure 2 provided below represents the framework of our hypothetical model. The model presented in figure 2 below explains the service quality as perceived by the customer. This model has been premised on seminal model (SERVQUAL), Cronin and Taylor (1992; SERVPERF), Parasuraman et al., (1988) and Brady and Cronin (2001). The quality of service conceptualized by 2 pathways that are: (1) P-E representing the gap in between perception, P and expectation, E and (2) P that represents only perception as the conceptualization of expectation (E) is not important (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). Thus, perception is what is actually measured. Hence, the questionnaire in the survey will consist of a single set to elicit answers concerning customers perception (Brady and Cronin, 2001) instead of two sets of questionnaires for measuring perception and expectation distinctively and for determining the difference between the two as was done by Parasuraman et al., (1988). The framework provided in this paper demonstrates the fact that fake loyalty may be found abundantly and inco mplete satisfaction will result in customer switching. The model below illustrates a gap which represents the disparity between the customers perception and expectation. Since the expectation of a customer does not influence the actual service delivered to him/her by the bank, thus, it holds an insignificant value. This infers that the actual service delivered will depend on the perceived service quality which in turn is also influenced by various service quality dimensions namely: tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Moreover, it is known that these dimensions influence both the customers service quality perceptions and the management designed service quality. Thus, the hypotheses and the hypothetical model are the same for all the gaps mentioned above. This research paper will investigate the disparity between the perceived service quality and the actual quality of service delivered to the customer by measuring the above mentioned service quality dimensions. Service quality dimensions Competitive Price Expectations (Expected Service) Perception  (Perceived Service Quality) Satisfaction Loyalty Actual service Experienced Tangible Reliability Responsiv-eness Assurance Empathy Banks Profitability Bank (image reputation) Market share Dissatisfied customers Switching customers 5. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 5.1 Purpose of the Research The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the hypothetical model and the related hypotheses. The analysis of the hypothetical model will lead to the formulation of appropriate business strategies that will overcome the potential disparity between perceived service quality and the actual quality of service delivered to the customer upon implementation. 5.2 Research Objectives 5.2.1 Primary Objective The objective of this paper is to investigate the drivers of customer loyalty and firm profitability with the help of collecting empirical evidence through interviewing the customers of various banks in Ghana and also, through assessing a case study of Barclays Bank Ghana. Due to the distinct cultural values of the Ghanaian Society, our study will focus on the extant literature. 5.2.2 Secondary Objectives Businesses conventionally implement aggressive marketing strategies in order to draw the attention of the new customers and thus, increase market share at the cost of competitors. According to the latest trends in competition, those businesses benefit the most that focus on retaining their customers while providing them the goods and services (Roberts, 2005). Customer retention with the help of enforcing quality in products, services, prices and accessing facilities of the bank among others play a critical role in customer satisfaction. Studies have shown that satisfied customers always return to their service providers and also, make their recommendations to friends and families which in turn increase both market share and profitability of the firm. In the banking sector of Ghana, it is generally hypothesized that high performance of the bank is associated with high customer retention. Thus, Bankers appraise customer loyalty as the key factor towards maintaining market share and increasing profitability of the bank. Due to the high customer chum, it is important to know that what drives customer loyalty. Ghauri and Grà ¶nhaug (2005; p. 14) state that assumptions and speculations should not be accepted or rejected unless these assumptions are critically studied to give logical and reliable reasoning for their acceptation or rejection. This study seeks to attain this aim that requires investigation of the drivers of customer loyalty serving as the core of design strategies that result in the increase of customer retention and bank performance by taking in to account the case study of Barclays Bank in Ghana. 6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES 6.1 Research questions In order to study the optimization of the enterprise contact management through a CRM enabled contact centre platform by taking in to consideration the case study of Barclays Bank in Ghana, the following question are being posed in this paper. What are the factors driving customer loyalty in Ghanas banking sector, in particular Barclays Bank Ghana? What are the factors that set back customer loyalty and retention in the banking sector in Ghana, particularly Barclays Bank Ghana? Does customer loyalty is achieved through customer satisfaction? Do reluctant customers approach other banks in order to get better and improved customer relations and services? 6.2 Hypotheses Our study will test the following hypotheses in this paper. H1- Service quality influences loyalty and satisfaction of the customer. H2- Tangibility, responsiveness, reliability, assurance and empathy are the five dimensions of service quality that vary to the extent to which they instigate customer loyalty and satisfaction. H3- Customer loyalty and satisfaction depend upon competitive pricing. H4- Perceived reputation and image of the bank stimulate customer loyalty. H5- Banks or enterprises profitability can be increased by customer loyalty and market share. H6- Reluctant customers approach other banks in order to get improved service quality from other banks. 7. BACKGROUND- BANKING IN GHANA Ghana has a well structured financial system that is built around the capital market, the Bank and the non Bank Financial Institutions. Banks are further divided in to the following classes on the basis of a licensed system: Universal Banking under Class I banking license. Universal and off-shore Banking under Class II banking license. Universal, off-shore Banking and ARB (Association of Rural and Community Banks) APEX Banking under the general banking license. (Bank of Ghana, Annual report, 2007). At present, the minimum amount of GHC 60 million is required to be possessed by the banks that are operating in Ghana as their stated capital (Bank of Ghana, Annual report, 2007). Ghana has 26 major banks operating under the Universal banking license and 126 rural and community banks that have been licensed for ARB Apex banking system. And also, 41 non Banking Financial Institutions which comprise of Discount Houses, Finance Companies, Mortgage Finance Companies, Savings Companies, Loans Companies and Leasing Companies. All of these NBFIs are supervised by the Bank of Ghana that is the central bank of Ghana. The activity based division of Commercial, Merchant and Development banking operating previously in Ghana have been replaced by this categorization. This was done in the wake of the initiative for the financial reforms that enabled universal banking in Ghana and thus, dissolved the operating limits hypothesized on the initial activity of incorporation. The goal was to transform t he conventional way of banking operation in order to welcome competitive trading in to the banking sector. Dr. Acquah, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana stated in his speech at the Fifth Banking Award Ceremony that universal banking was introduced in order to promote new banks, liberalize the options for the banking services, extend the branch network and increase competition for deposit at the level of retail (Acquah, 2009). Since the banks constitute 70 per cent of the financial sector, thus, they are the most common source for contributing to the economy (Bawumia, 2008). The head offices of all the banks in Ghana are situated in the national capital of the country while their several branches are located in major cities and town of Ghana that are owned by the government, Ghanaians, foreigners or the combination. Currently all the banks in Ghana possess Universal Banking License. Only 12 banks in Ghana are owned by its citizens. The table below shows the banks operating in Ghana with their branch networks, area of activity and proprietorship. Name of Bank Number of Branches Ownership Current Banking Licence Barclays Bank of Ghana Ltd 120 Non- Ghanaian Universal Merchant Bank (Ghana) Ltd 16 Ghanaian Universal Ecobank Ghana Limited 32 Non- Ghanaian Universal Ghana Commercial Bank Ltd 143 Ghanaian Universal National Investment Bank Ltd 24 Ghanaian Universal Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Ltd 19 Non- Ghanaian Universal SG-SSB Bank Limited 36 Non- Ghanaian Universal The Trust Bank Limited 17 Ghanaian Universal Agricultural Development Bank Ltd 50 Ghanaian Universal Amalgamated Bank Limited 10 Non- Ghanaian Universal Prudential Bank Limited 10 Ghanaian Universal Fidelity Bank Limited 6 Ghanaian Universal Zenith Bank Limited 9 Non- Ghanaian Universal Stanbic Bank (Ghana) Limited 10 Non- Ghanaian Universal Unibank Ghana Limited 11 Ghanaian Universal Intercontinental Bank Limited 12 Non- Ghanaian Universal HFC Bank Ghana Limited 11 Ghanaian Universal First Atlantic Merchant Bank Ltd 4 Ghanaian Universal International Commercial Bank Ltd 12 Ghanaian Universal Guaranty Trust Bank Limited 5 Non- Ghanaian Universal CAL Bank Limited 10 Ghanaian Universal United Bank for Africa (Gh) Ltd 16 Non- Ghanaian Universal Bank of Baroda Ghana Ltd 1 Non- Ghanaian Universal BSIC 1 Non- Ghanaian Universal BPI Bank Limited 9 Non- Ghanaian Universal Table 1: Banks in Ghana (Source: Price Waterhouse Banking Industry Survey, 2008). 7.1 The era of post Banking Reform in Ghana Developments in the era of post Banking Reforms in Ghana can be concisely expressed as the transformation of the distressed and dysfunctional banking system with illiquidity and insolvency, credit rationing and interest rate controls in to a market based regime along with improving the bank supervision in order to ascertain that efficiency and profitability is increased (Acquah, 2006). The Economic Recovery Programmed (ERP) introduced the Financial Sector Adjustment Program, generally referred as FINSAP so that the banking sector can play a vital role in promoting the economic development. This program was executed in two in two phases. In the first phase, FINSAP 1, provisions were made for liberalizing the banking industry and restructuring the distressed banks in Ghana (Brownbridge et al., 1998). The restructuring part was very crucial since these banks were either extremely important for the economy or deeply associated with other economic activities such that their demolition may result in disastrous ramifications. The second phase, FINSAP 2 brought new dimensions in the financial industry reform program through privatizing state owned banks, technological advancements, human capital development and careful supervision and regulation by the central bank of Ghana. In addition to this, the second phase of FINSAP characterized cautious banking through revising the Banking Law of 1970 and through introducing the Banking Laws of 1989 and 2004 which enforced the requirement of minimum capital keeping in view the increased number of banks and branches. Due to FINSAP 2, the banking and the financial industry in Ghana experienced strong regulation and supervision along with the advancement in latest payments and settlement system. Above all was the Payment Systems Development Strategy by the central bank of Ghana that focused at the delivery of financial services that enhanced the financial intermediation with the help of the progress of electronic payment products that include ATM (Automated Teller Machine) services, e-money, transfer of funds at the point of sale, SMS (Short Message Service), internet and telephone banking. Recently, e-zwich was brought in to the market in order to build a common platform that assisted in connecting the different banking institutions through a biometric smart card (Acquah, 2009). All the banks responded positively to the introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) in delivery of financial services which in turn improved the financial performance. This outlook over shadowed the competition and distinguished market share and profitability among the banks in Ghana. The new foreign and private banks launched latest technologies whereas the government banks have to cope up with the redundant man power and non-performing assets. The new banks encounter the challenges of market share, spread and size from the conventional banks. In order to overcome this challenge, the new banks employed the strategic option of swift implementation of the prescribed new products and the development of financial services administered by the Bank of Ghana so that the un-banked, banked and under banked customer classes of the population could be captured. 7.2 The Case Study of Barclays Bank, Ghana As shown in the table 2 provided above that Barclays Banks holds a leading position in the Ghanaian financial services market place in addition to an aggressive nationwide branch network. Thus, Barclays being the premier banking institution of Ghana is leveraging its distinct characteristics in order to compete effectively in the highly competitive and fast progressing banking and financial services industry of Ghana. In order to further differentiate itself from the rest in the competition, Barclays Bank is headed towards promoting its strategy of holding its market leadership position through developing its customer management functionality with the help of implementing a robust solution for customer relation management (CRM) with strongly emphasizing over its customer service operations. Barclays commenced this initiative for CRM in order to facilitate the customer facing the banks operations with the technology platform enhancing the banks operations and enabling the bank to compete effectively in addition to becoming a truly customer focused organization. Thus, Barclays is looking forward to working with a reputable organization in order to develop and upgrade its existing customer contact centre along with integrating it with CRM Dynamic Solution by Microsoft. Completely equipped, contact centre of Barclays Bank will eventually enable the customers to interact and deal with the bank via multiple channels such as voice, e-mail, fax, IVR, web, etc.) that fulfils various functionalities of sales, marketing and service at the time of their convenience either with a customer representative or through self service. It is highly vital for Barclays to enhance its processes facing customers in order to develop the business relationship in between its customers and employees for attaining its business goals. The implementation of such an advance and complex customer management project is to be based upon detailed and comprehensive planning, apt consulting and allocation of technical resources to ascertain that the desired goals are achieved with in a certain time period, being as cost effective as possible. Electronic services department of Barclays strongly believes that the goals of this initiative required being in line with the overall business strategies of Barclays Bank. It has been observed from similar engagements that spanning numerous industries is not adequate to ensure desired result. Barclays must recognize the important role that it has to play in the initial stages of the project. Complete commitment and dedication from Barclays is required through out the total time frame of the project in order to ascertain and realize the significance of enhancing its customer management functionality which will ultimately result in the growth in revenue and profitability. 7.2.1 Requirements for the Barclays Bank Ghana Barclays Bank Ghana is looking forward to improving its overall customer management operations through commencing a CRM strategy that is most likely to enhance the banks customer focus strategy. The first stage of this CRM initiative will emphasize over improving the customer service function of the bank through making new advancements in its current platform for the centre. This is achieved by employing latest tools that will improve the interaction of the customers with the bank either through the customer service representation or by means of self service. The first stage of CRM initiatives is most likely to improve the sales and marketing processes of the operation of the bank and set the stage for linking these processes with the customer service operations and allowing them to access the tools that will support in improving their performance, enhance their functions and recognize understand the customer as the Banks primary asset. The bank has recognized the following basic functions necessary for improving its existing contact centre platform. Outbound Calls and Multimedia Channels Automatic Distribution of Calls Caller Line Identification Complaint Management Interactive Voice Response Integration of CRM Computer Telephony Integration Call Recording Reports or Dashboard System Backup Barclays Bank has also recognized the following modules of Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform as the desirable milestones for the project. Marketing module Service Module Sales Module Workflow Module Analytical Module 7.2.2 Recommended Solution The recommended solution is divided in to the following three different components. CRM-Workshop for Business Process Mapping Implementation of Microsoft Dynamic CRM Up gradation of the platform of Contact Centre Technology 7.2.3 Business Process Mapping The aim of this exercise is to recognize the current business processes, future business processes and the gap between the two scenarios. It is formulated to overcome barriers between the business values and its technology. The outcome is strict accountability and a higher probability of customer satisfaction through its deployment. The exercise will determine the metric that need to be tracked down, managers and customers that will be held accountable for these measurements of the performance, required new processes, impact of processes and sub processes on data importing, solution configuration and integration with other technologies and systems used at the back end. The results of this exercise are given below: Detailed Process Map that consists of report on current state as validated by the stockholders. Detailed Process Map consisting of report on future state as validated by the stockholders. Gap Analytical Report Business Requirements Report After the above documents have been produced, the business users will eventually examine and validate the provided information. After approval, these documents will be used to support project execution. 7.2.4 Deployment of CRM System The desired outcome of the successful deployment of a CRM system is determined through the end users usage and willingness to use it daily in order to improve their personal productivity. In this regard, the adapted methodology gives a frame work for dealing with customer relationship management as a business strategy and also as a project for developing technical systems. The concept behind this process is that technology alone with out strategy does not produce business results. Thus, a proper strategy for CRM is required to be adopted side by side with the deployment of the technical system. The success of CRM lies in the implementation of the technology with the clear picture of the improvements in measurable business performance. 7.2.5 Strategy The strategic model used by the Barclays Bank Ghana constitutes of four components that must be understood in order to achieve real business advantage from any CRM based project. Figure 2 (Source: e.Services Africa Ltd. 2010). Performance Management The purpose of any CRM project in an organization is to improve or optimize its performance. However, it is complicated to precisely define: the areas and object to be improved, the extent of this improvement and the enhancement of this improvement measure through the CRM system. This objective is fulfilled by embedding key point indicators, business metrics in the form of understandable charts and graphs in to the user interface of the CRM system. This enables the user to use the system as a routine activity. User can easily find the changes made by them to the system in clear metrics on their dashboard. Users and the management must seriously operate the business in accordance to the embedded metrics on the dashboards. Management Commitment Commitment of the management serves as the basis for success of any CRM project. Senior managers must completely comprehend and be involved in adopting CRM as a strategy and they must also, actively take part in the implementation of CRM project. Existing processes need to be changed for improving performance of any business or system, thus, any CRM project could be referred to an effort for changing management and modifying behavior. Managers are supposed to support such changes. Irrespective of the technological functions, the managers must back the process changes along with communicating the fact that new procedures need to be adopted in order to achieve the desired goals of the business.

The Archetypical Low-Cost Air Carrier: Southwest Airlines :: Aviation Southwest Airlines Flying Essays

Abstract The seventh largest major domestic airline in the United States (US), Southwest Airlines, is commonly known or referred to as a low-cost carrier. Southwest Airlines is the only major airline that provides short-haul, point-to-point service in the United States. In fact it was the first airline of its type ever started; it has become the archetypical low-cost airline. The idea has proven itself so well, that other start-up airlines have based their company strategies upon the basics of Southwest. Today, there are two other low-cost air carriers (the other two airlines are considered national airlines and not major airlines) that are actively and aggressively competing with Southwest Airlines for business and profit turning. The three American low-cost air carriers are currently posting profits even in light of the US economy’s current state of affairs, with Southwest Airlines first, JetBlue second, and Air Tran third, in profits. How is this possible when the major six airlines are reporting losses of millions and millions of dollars each quarter? The answer to this question begins about 30 years ago. The Archetypical Low-Cost Air Carrier: Southwest Airlines The product one airline can offer is the same exact product the next airline can offer, a single available seat mile (ASM) for sale. The difference between the airlines lies in the marketing, routing, pricing, executive decision-making, and the operating strategies that each airline chooses to espouse regarding that one product. It is through these strategies that an airline must find productivity in total revenue passenger miles (RPM) flown to be profitable. When the ASM is filled with a fare-paying passenger, sales or income is recognized, and it converts to an RPM. The relationship between the ASM and RPM are directly related and is expressed in percentages known as Load Factors (LF). This LF is a management tool used to determine the efficiency and health of the airline. It is necessary to keep these two variables in balance of each other. Southwest Airlines load factors are represented in Figure 1 and 2.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   RPM LF = ASM Many airlines choose to use the hub network, which induces costly effects in all areas of the airline. It is the point-to-point; short haul airline that is capable of keeping costs low and turn profits, Southwest Airlines has proven just that. Southwest Airlines survived the initial years of deregulation, years of cyclical business cycles that may have led to recessionary and or inflationary periods, and its 25-year